Del Webb

Del Webb is one of the most prominent names in Cactus League history. A lifelong fan of baseball, Webb parlayed his success as the president of the Phoenix-based Del Webb Construction Co. into co-ownership of the Yankees.

Del Webb is credited with one of the most interesting trades in baseball history. In 1951, Webb convinced New York Giants owner Horace Stoneham to swap spring training sites for a single year, sending the Giants to Florida and the Yankees to the original Phoenix Municipal Stadium. The Yankees’ were the defending World Champions that year, with a lineup that included Joe Dimaggio in his last season, Mickey Mantle and Yogi Berra, under the management of manager Casey Stengel.

Not only was Webb able to showcase the Yankees to other Arizona brass as he was building Sun City—he gave fans a close-up look of a national market team years before Major League Baseball’s westward expansion.